Reusable packaging

ABSTRACT

Reusable bulk packaging comprises a plastics bag having an opening which is closable by means of a zip fastener attached to the body of the bag, typically by means of an adhesive or by welding. Exemplary packaging is a flexible intermediate bulk container or a pallet cover ( 1 ). The plastics bag may be made out of bubble film, optionally laminated to aluminium foil.

This invention relates to containers and packaging, and is particularlyconcerned with the provision of containers and packaging which can bere-used. In one aspect the invention relates to containers having aclosable opening, including those used commercially for the storage andtransportation of a wide variety of products. A particular aspect ofthis invention is concerned with such a closable plastics containerwhich, because of the nature of the sealing device, is reusable on manyoccasions.

Flexible containers are widely used in industry for the transport andstorage of solid products. In particular, the use of plastics bags orcontainers for the storage and transportation of materials has foundwidespread application in industry because of the strength, flexibility,lightness and inert nature of such containers, and the fact that theyare relatively inexpensive to produce.

Specifically, plastics bags find application as flexible intermediatebulk containers (FIBCs) and as liners for rigid intermediate bulkcontainers (RIBCs). FIBCs and RIBCs normally have a capacity of up to3000 liters and more typically have a capacity of about 1000 liters.Depending upon the density of the contents, therefore, a 1000 liter FIBCmay carry a load of up to about 1500 kg. Such containers are used forthe storage and transportation of materials in powder, granule or pasteform, for example chemical raw materials and foodstuffs. FIBCs may havean inner liner and do not require further packaging. FIBCs are typicallydesigned to be lifted from above using integral, detachable orpermanently attached lifting devices.

FIBCs are generally comprised of plastics such as polyalkenes, typicallypolyethylene or polypropylene, or polyesters, for example; alternativelythey may be made of woven fabric or of paper. One class of container ismade using sheet plastics laminate material. The containers aretypically reinforced, for example by a fabric or alternatively byfibres, and may comprise laminates of such reinforced or non-reinforcedpolymers with aluminium; optionally, further materials may also beincorporated. One exemplary material is a cross-laminated HDPE film soldunder the registered trade mark Valéron by Van Leer Flexible Packaging,PO Box 88, B 2910 Essen, Belgium.

Plastics bags also find application for somewhat smaller bulkcontainers, for example with a capacity of about 25 liters. One 25 literflexible plastics container has a paper lining and is used for thetransport and storage of dry foodstuffs, especially rice.

Another type of flexible container is a pallet cover, which is typicallyheat-sealed plastics sheeting enclosing a pallet and one or morearticles loaded on the pallet. As the skilled reader will appreciate,there are numerous other containers which are formed from flexiblepackaging material, especially sheet plastics material.

Prior to the transportation of goods in containers, it will beappreciated that sealing of the containers is required in order toprotect the goods and/or prevent loss through spillage or leakage ofmaterials in transit. Most commonly, sealing is achieved by theapplication of an heat and, to this end, the incorporation of a reliableheatseal medium in the material of the containers ensures that aneffective seal may be obtained. Whilst such means ensure that highefficiency of sealing is achieved, once the seal is broken, for examplefollowing transportation, and the contents of the container have beenremoved, re-use is not possible, and the used container has to bedisposed of in a suitable manner.

It has therefore been desired to provide flexible containers, especiallyplastics bags, which are for the transport of bulk goods and which areboth sealable and re-usable. A perceived problem in achieving this aimhas been the incomparability of known fasteners with such plastics bags(and other flexible containers) in view of the heavy loads carried bybulk containers. For example, very small bags are known to be sealedusing mating profiles or zips, but both these types of fastener havebeen perceived as offering inadequate strength when placed in a bulkcontainer.

Those very small plastics bags which do incorporate zips use stitchingto attach the zip to the plastics sheeting of the bag. Whilst thestitching provides strength and has proved itself as a reliableattachment means, it is relatively costly and inconvenient to provide,such that an even more ideal re-usable fastener would be attached bymeans which would be relatively inexpensive and convenient to attach butnonetheless provide strength and durability.

It would therefore be desirable to provide a resealable flexible bulkcontainer especially a resealable flexible plastics bulk container. Itis an objective of a preferred embodiment of the present invention toprovide a plastics container in the form of a plastics bag which may beused as an FIBC or as a liner in an RIBC, and which may be reused onseveral occasions.

It would also be desirable to provide a plastics bag provided with arobust re-usable closure capable of being attached to the body of thebag by a means more convenient than stitching.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provideda flexible bulk container, especially a flexible plastics bulkcontainer, having an opening which is closable by means of a zipfastener. The container in some preferred embodiments is an FIBC or aliner for an RIBC. In other preferred embodiments, the container is apallet cover or an order picking container.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided a plastics bag, which may be a bulk container, having anopening which is closable by means of a zip fastener attached to thebody of the bag by means of an adhesive or by welding. The bag istypically comprised in a bulk container having a capacity of about 25liters or more, e.g. 500 liters or more. In one class of embodiments thebag is an FIBC or a liner for an RIBC having in either case a capacityof about 1000 liters, or it may be bigger. In another class ofembodiments the bag is a pallet cover.

By the use of an adhesive or welding in this way it is possibleconveniently to adhere the plastics backing of the zip mechanism to thesurface of the plastics bag at either side of the opening therein. Thus,the plastics bags of this aspect of the invention are very easy toproduce and operate and, once emptied of their initial contents andcleaned internally, the bags are available for re-use, leading tofurther cost savings in addition to the environmental benefits whichaccrue as a result of the reduction in waste.

In all embodiments of the invention the zip preferably comprisesplastics material the same as or similar to that of the bag, in orderthat compatibility with the proposed contents may be ensured. Thus, thesurfaces of the zip preferably comprise a plastics material havingcompatability properties similar to those of the bag. In thoseembodiments of the invention which do not require the zip to be glued tothe container or bag, as in the case of intermediate bulk containers, itmay be stitched to the body of the container or bag.

The zip may extend across the top of the flexible container or bag, orit may be located in a sidewall thereof, as is preferred in the case ofpallet covers, FIBCs and RIBC liners. Thus, the invention includespallet covers, FIBCs and RIBC liners which are made using plastics sheetmaterial (which may be reinforced and/or laminated) and comprise in asidewall thereof an opening provided with a zip fastener, which issuitably in an upright orientation in use and may have a length of, forexample, 25-50 cm, e.g. about 30 cm.

The body of the flexible container may comprise any plastics materialknown for the construction of such containers. Thus, the plasticsmaterial may be reinforced and/or be laminated; such laminates mayinclude non-plastics materials (notably metal foil, especially aluminiumfoil) as well as plastics materials. In some classes of container, anouter layer comprising flexible plastics film material, e.g. areinforced polyalkane or polyester, is lined by an inner layer of, forexample, paper. Of course, such reinforced polyalkane or polyestermaterials do not have to be lined. The invention includes containerssuitable for providing thermal insulation and comprising bubble filmoptionally laminated to a metal foil material.

The adhesive utilised in some embodiments of the present invention maybe applied as an adhesive strip, allowing the plastics of the zipfastener to be directly attached to the surface of the plastics bag.Most conveniently, the adhesive strip is in the form of a double-sidedadhesive strip, which may conveniently be applied such that the zipfastener becomes affixed to the outer surface of the plastics bag.Alternatively, however, the zip may be attached to the inner surface ofsaid bag. By this use of an adhesive it is possible to avoid thenecessity to provide paper linings which were a feature of some priorart flexible containers and facilitated the attachment of plasticssurfaces to each other with the assistance of various glues and otheradhesives.

As has already been stated, the containers and bags of the invention maybe in the form of pallet covers. The invention provides in a furtheraspect a reusable flexible pallet cover characterised in that it has, inuse, an open bottom and in that, usually, it comprises a releasablefastener member for directly or indirectly holding the pallet cover to apallet. Preferred embodiments are set forth in the claims.

The invention also includes a package comprising a pallet having one ormore articles loaded thereon and, covering the articles, a flexiblepallet cover open at the bottom and seated on or at least partiallysurrounding the pallet, the pallet cover being directly or indirectlyheld to the pallet by a releasable fastener member. Again, preferredembodiments are set forth in the claims.

Preferred pallet covers of the invention, as well as other containers,may be made from flexible packaging comprising cruciform sheet material.Such packaging forms a further aspect of the invention and has armswhose adjacent side margins are provided with respective members of azip fastener for zipping the margins together. The zip fastener membersare suitably adhered or welded to the sheet material.

The sheet material may comprise bubble film optionally laminated to ametal foil material. The invention also includes zippable bubble filmpackaging, for example containers, in other configurations.

Preferred embodiments of the cruciform packaging and the zippable bubblefilm packaging are set forth in the claims.

The present invention is further described by way of example only withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a bag or container of the invention embodied as afirst design of pallet cover;

FIG. 2 illustrates a bag or container of the invention embodied as asecond design of pallet cover;

FIG. 3 illustrates cruciform packaging which may be zipped up to form apallet cover or order picking bag embodying the invention;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged partial elevation of packaging incorporating azip; and

FIG. 5 is a cross section along line X—X of FIG. 4.

FIG. 1, therefore, illustrates a flexible bulk container 1 (in thiscase, a pallet cover) having an opening which is closed by a zipfastener 2. The illustrated container has a zip fastener 2 at each ofits far corners.

FIG. 1 also serves to illustrate a plastics bag 1 (ie pallet cover)having an opening closed by means of a zip fastener attached to the bodyof the bag by means of an adhesive or welding.

The pallet cover of FIG. 1 does not strictly require its side wall tocontain an opening closable by a zip fastener or alternative closuredevice. FIG. 1 therefore serves additionally to illustrate a reusableflexible pallet cover 1 which has an open bottom, and usually, areleasable fastener member (strap 3) for indirectly or directly holdingthe pallet cover 1 to a pallet 4.

Looking at FIG. 1 in more detail, therefore it shows a flexible palletcover 1, representing a container or bag of the invention. A zipfastener 2 is provided at each corner of the pallet cover but, ofcourse, a greater or lesser number of zip fasteners may be provided. Thepallet cover 1 belongs to a class of flexible bulk containers having azip 2 located in the container side wall. As shown, the zip 2 serves toclose an opening which in use constitutes an upward slit which may, ifdesired, be at an angle to the vertical.

In some aspects of the invention, the openings which are closeable bythe zip fasteners 2 may dispensed with or, alternatively, the one ormore openings may be opened and closed by an alternative closure device,for example a rope or the like which can be laced through holes definedin marginal portions of the pallet cover on each side of the slit oropening.

The zip fastener(s) 2 may be stitched to the body of the pallet cover 1but is/are more preferably secured thereto by adhesive or by welding, asis described in more detail below and essential in one aspect of theinvention.

The pallet cover 1 is held directly or indirectly to the pallet 4 by areleasable fastening member and, more particularly, by one or morestraps 3, which have a free end which can be coupled to the pallet or toa strap member extending under the bottom of the pallet. The bottomstrap member may be part of the strap 3 or a separate length ofstrapping. If separate bottom and top straps are used, the two ends ofone are usually attachable to the two ends of the other, as for exampleby buckles or clips. The strap 3 may therefore have at each end onemember of a plural member securing device (eg buckle), whether forsecuring to a bottom strap or to a securing device attached to thepallet (not shown). In the illustrated embodiment, however, the strap 3is provided at its free end with a hook-profile cleat 5 which extendsunder the pallet and, usually, has a serrated end which serves to graspthe wood of the pallet when the strap 3 is under tension. The cleat 5may be made of metal or a suitable plastics material.

The strap 3 is desirably provided with a tension adjustment device suchas, for example, a tensioning buckle 6.

A plurality of fastening members may be provided. For example, it isconvenient to provide two straps 3 which are spaced from one another andat least approximately in parallel, as shown. Additionally oralternatively to providing at least a second parallel strap, one or morecrosswise straps may be provided.

The straps 3 are desirably secured to the body of the pallet cover, forexample, by stitching adhesive or welding.

The bags and containers of the invention are normally made out ofplastics sheet material, which may be reinforced and/or be laminated.For example, a pallet cover 1 may be made from cross-laminated HDPE filmsuch as that sold under the trade mark Valeron, for example.Alternatively, there may be used a cross-laminated LDPE film (eg thatsold under the trade mark Valcross) or a polyester film. In otherpreferred embodiments, there are used plastics/metal foil (especiallyaluminium foil) laminates, for example cross-laminated LDPE/aluminiumfoil laminate optionally incorporating polyester; also suitable arealuminium barrier foils which are polyester-aluminium-LDPE coating-HDPElaminates such as those sold under the trade mark Valsem 527 (BarrierTechnology Limited; Salford, Manchester M5 2GL, UK).

It has been found that bags or containers, eg pallet covers, withexcellent thermal insulation may be made from bubble film, especiallybubble film laminated to metal foil, more especially aluminium foil. Zipfasteners can be welded or adhered to such laminates based on bubblefilm and foil.

The zip fasteners incorporated in the bags and containers of theinvention suitably comprise mating zip elements stitched to “wings” madeof plastics material, especially a film containing cross-laminatedpolyethylene as described in the preceding paragraph.

The “wings” of the fastener are typically glued or, more preferably,welded to the bag or container. To facilitate welding ofpolyethylene-based films, one or both of the zip “wings” or thebag/container material will in practice be coated with a heat-sealcoating, suitably that sold by Du Pont under the trade mark Surlyn.

FIG. 2 illustrates a second design of pallet cover which embodies azipped bag or container of the invention. The Figure shows a palletcover 1 incorporating one or more zip fasteners 2 (which may bedispensed with in some aspects of the invention) and seated on a pallet4. A plurality of straps 3′ releasably hold the pallet cover 1 to thepallet, for example by placing loops 7 at the free ends of the straps 3′around exposed ends 8 of pallet planks. The top ends of the straps aredirectly or indirectly secured to the pallet cover 1, for example bystitching. FIG. 2, therefore, illustrates a pallet cover which comprisesa plurality of releasable fastening members which extend in a directionhaving a sideways component to an attachment point.

In the illustrated embodiment, the straps 3′ extend in a diagonaldirection, in effect partially wrapping round the pallet cover 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates flexible packaging suitable for use as a pallet coverof the invention but also useful for other functions. The Figure showscruciform sheet material 9 (eg made of plastics as described above inrelation to FIG. 1) having four arms 10.

Adjacent side margins 11 a, 11 b, 12 a, 12 b, 13 a, 13 b, 14 a, 14 b ofthe arms 10 are provided with respective members of a zip fastener forzipping adjacent margins together. For example, plastics “wings” of azip fastener may be welded or adhered to the side margins. Straps 3″ orother releasable fastening means may be provided, if the packaging is toform a pallet cover.

Packaging which is intended for use as a pallet cover must be suitablydesigned to match the pallet size. Thus standard British pallets havedimensions of 1.1×1.1 m whereas most other European pallets are 1.2×1.2m. Generally, therefore, pallet covers are representative of thosebags/containers of the invention having a volume of at least 1000liters.

The packaging shown in FIG. 3 may be used as an order-picking bag:articles packed in a zipped-up bag can be picked in order from the topof the bag. Variants of such bags may have a number of zip fastenersother than 4.

The packaging shown in FIG. 3 can be made of a bubble film material toform insulated containers/packaging useful not only as pallet covers butalso for other applications. In modifications of the illustratedpackaging, material is provided to form an insulated closure for themouth defined by the arms of the cruciform packaging. Thus, one the arms10 may be extended to provide a flap for closing the mouth and desirablysecurable to the edges of the mouth, for example by zip fasteners orhook and fibre fasteners of the type sold under the trade mark Velcro;alternatively, two opposed arms may be extended, for example. Theinvention accordingly includes cruciform packaging of which not all thearms are equal in length as well as such packaging in which the arms areof equal length.

FIG. 4 shows in elevation a portion of an article made in accordancewith the invention, for example, packaging, a bag or a container. Thearticle comprises flexible plastics material 15, for example LDPEsheeting (in other embodiments the flexible plastics material is apolyethylene/aluminium foil laminate or bubble film), to which are gluedor, preferably, welded the wings 16 of a zip fastener, as can beunderstood clearly from FIG. 5. The mating elements of the zip fastener,here shown as interengaged teeth carried on the respective wings 16, areindicated by reference numeral 17.

A zippable bag, container or packaging of the invention, inspective ofwhether it is an FIBC, an RIBC liner, an RIBC cover, a pallet cover orotherwise, is reusable. In particular, whereas prior art heat-shrunkcontainers are opened by cutting and so become waste, the bags orcontainers of the invention are opened by unzipping and can be re-used.If necessary, they may be washed between uses.

It will be understood that, in some aspects of the invention, itsproducts do not incorporate zip fasteners. Thus, the feature of an openmouth, in practice positioned at the bottom, enables a flexible bag orcontainer to serve as a reusable pallet cover, since the cover can beremoved without being destroyed. However the presence of at least oneclosable, eg zippable, slit in the cover side wall greatly facilitatesplacing over a cover over articles on a pallet and it subsequentremoved.

It will be appreciated that, whilst the foregoing description hasreferred specifically to the use of such bags as pallet covers andFIBCs, the applications of the invention are not so limited, and a widevariety of other applications can be envisaged, including in the case ofsome embodiments various domestic and personal applications such as bookcarriers, personal effects carriers and the like. Another example of aplastics bag or container of the invention is a bag or cover foraccommodating a carpet, particularly a rolled up carpet. In this casethe bag will be elongate and formed of sufficiently strong plasticsmaterial having regard to the nature of the bag contents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A flexible pallet cover of plastic sheet materialcomprising a polyalkene which is selected from the group consisting ofpolyethylenes, polypropylenes, polyesters, and combinations thereof, anedge of said cover being attachable to a further edge of said cover bymeans of a zip fastener, said zip fastener having two elongate flexiblewing members made of cross-laminated polyalkene sheet material that isof the same polyalkene as used in said cover, each wing member havingtwo elongate edges, one of said elongate edges carrying a row of teethfor interlocking cooperation with the teeth of the other flexible wingmember, the other elongate edge and an elongate portion of the wingmember overlapping an edge region of the cover, the wing member andcover being joined by a weld in the region of overlap between saidelongate portion and said edge region of the cover.
 2. A pallet coveraccording to claim 1 wherein the plastic sheet material is reinforced.3. A pallet cover according to claim 1 wherein the plastic sheetmaterial comprises bubble film.
 4. A pallet cover according to claim 1wherein the plastic sheet material is laminated to a plastics ornon-plastics material.
 5. A pallet cover according to claim 1 whereinthe zip fastener is located in a side wall of the cover.
 6. A palletcover according to claim 1 having an open bottom that is adapted for atleast partially receiving a pallet.
 7. A pallet cover according to claim1 having at least one releasable fastener member for holding the palletcover to a pallet, wherein the fastener member includes a strap whichhas at each end one member of a plural member securing device.
 8. Apallet cover according to claim 7 in which said at least one releasablefastener member comprises a plurality of fastening members which in useextend across a vertical surface of the pallet cover to an attachmentwhere they are attached to the pallet.
 9. A pallet cover according toclaim 1 having at least one releasable strap for holding the palletcover to a pallet, wherein the strap is formed into a loop at its end.10. A pallet cover according to claim 1 which has defined therein aportion which in use constitutes a side wall and an opening in the saidside wall which in use constitutes an upward slit, wherein the slit isopenable and closable by means of the zip fastener and the zip fasteneris welded to marginal portions of the pallet cover which form opposedsides of the slit.
 11. A pallet cover according to claim 10 whereinthere are a plurality of said openings, each disposed to form an upwardslit at a corner of a pallet.
 12. A pallet cover according to claim 11,wherein there are four said openings.
 13. A pallet cover according toclaim 1 which comprises bubble film laminated to aluminium foilmaterial.
 14. Flexible pallet cover according to claim 1 wherein thecover is a sheet material which comprises a laminated polyethylenematerial.
 15. Flexible pallet cover according to claim 14 wherein thelaminated polyethylene material of the cover comprises a bubble filmlaminated to a metal foil material.
 16. Flexible pallet cover accordingto claim 14 wherein the laminated polyethylene material of the cover isa cross-laminated polyethylene.
 17. Flexible pallet cover according toclaim 1 wherein the flexible wing members comprise cross-laminatedpolyethylene and metal foil.
 18. Flexible pallet cover according toclaim 1 wherein said polyalkene is polyethylene.
 19. Flexible palletcover according to claim 1 wherein said weld that joins the wing memberand cover is a continuous weld.